User Interfaces (UIs) and human machine interfaces (HMIs) allow a user or operator to control a machine. Capacitive touch interfaces are becoming more popular, including capacitive touch displays that provide user input capabilities as well as display of data, graphics or other information to an operator. Capacitive position detection for HMI technology offers long life time, low implementation costs, and ease of use as a sealed fluid and gas proof control element, which is beneficial in areas of operation with explosives and chemical processes. Capacitive sensing can be used for detecting the position of a control actuator as well as for detecting user touch events. For example, capacitive position sensing for rotary and/or linear control elements of an HMI can be combined with user touch detection. Capacitive sensing systems may suffer from weak response of conductive structures or of a user's finger introduced into the sensitive area of an HMI control device.